


Out from Under

by OveliaGirlHaditRight



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Canon, Canon Compliant, Dreams, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, One heart, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, SoKai Week, Sokai, Some darkness, oneshots, tags to be added as i think of them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25092943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OveliaGirlHaditRight/pseuds/OveliaGirlHaditRight
Summary: A fanfiction where I'm putting all of my prompts for SoKai Week this year:)
Relationships: Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 40
Kudos: 6
Collections: SoKai Week 2020





	1. Have Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… Sora and Kairi’s entire conversation at the start of this is based on one that Buffy and Angel had in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, that I felt was too perfect to pass up for this.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Also… it should hopefully be clear in the story, but Kairi—who is the PoV here—is definitely being an unreliable narrator in this fic, and being WAY too hard on herself.

It was a hideous day outside: rain was falling in torrents, the wind was howling, and there was an eclipse keeping anyone from seeing the sun.

But even though the weather conditions were bleak, the past hours hadn't been a complete loss for the Guardians of Light. While Ava had, unfortunately, gone back to the Master of Master's side after he'd told her how he loved her like a dad would, they'd gotten Aced to their side when they'd explained to him that even they thought he'd had good intentions—even if his father and siblings couldn’t see that—but had just gone about things the wrong way…

And maybe that was why Kairi and Sora were having a heart-to-heart themselves right now, in Merlin's Study, while everyone else was outside trying to fix Radiant Garden’s claymores...

"I saw you on the day you became the most popular girl at school, y'know,” Sora said now, as he held onto Kairi’s hand and looked earnestly into her eyes. “It was a beautiful day, where the sun was actually shining unlike now... and you had a lollipop in your mouth, and walked down the stairs to the courtyard… and I fell in love with you then.”

" _Why_?" Kairi couldn't keep herself from asking. Because it was beyond her how Sora had ever cared for the weak girl who had led to his death, let alone cared for the horrible creature she’d been even before _that_.

"Because... I could see your heart,” Sora assured her with a smile, as he ran a hand through her hair. And Kairi supposed he must have been serious about this… since Sora always took matters of the heart so seriously. It made her feel even more in love, even if she wasn’t sure she deserved it. "…And I was worried that your heart would be bruised or broken. And more than anything else in the world, I wanted to warm it with my own."

Kairi hugged Sora for these words—as how could she not? Especially since she wanted to revel in this feeling a little while longer, if she was going to selflessly give it up… if she couldn’t change—and replied, "That's so sweet, Sora." And it was.

But for some reason, Kairi also couldn't help thinking of their blood pumping organs being pushed together, instead of their figurative hearts that Sora had really been speaking about, "Or, taken literally… really gross." (1)

“Y’know… I was just thinking the same thing,” Sora muttered, seeming suddenly ashamed of himself if the tone in his voice was anything to go by.

And Kairi laughed uproariously, as she pulled away from Sora and smiled at him widely… and then he was grinning at her, too, before he was twirling her around and they were dancing in the midst of their ridiculous life.

And Kairi held onto the moment, in thinking that it could be her last moment with Sora… for so many reasons.

...

In the end… Kairi was selfish. She always had been, and knew this well. Wasn’t this why she’d always wanted Sora to stay home with her, rather than go on his quests? …Or why she’d forced herself into battles she wasn’t ready for—endangering everyone that way—just so she could stay by Sora’s side?  
  
And then… after Sora had died, she’d become the worst possible version of herself. That old popular girl with the bad attitude again, but also someone who’d been grieving for trauma that had happened to her on one, two, three fronts… and she’d been so cold to Riku because of it… someone who was Sora’s best friend.

And after everything they’d been through… maybe she should have just let Sora and herself be together, like they so desperately wanted, but after Sora’s heartfelt declaration the other day—where he’d told her he’d loved her when she’d only been at the first stage of unlovable—she couldn’t help thinking he deserved so much better than her.

But Kairi was too awful to let Sora go completely… So she stopped touching him or being around him if she could help it, without explaining anything, as she tried to become a better (or lesser?) version of herself, so she could hopefully be comfortable in his arms again, sooner rather than later?

Where her enemies were concerned… Kairi stopped talking to them—in not being able to get over just how annoying she was when she spoke—but she also hated that she was doing this… because it reminded her of the girl who hadn’t gotten to speak to her abuser until he was already dead, and she couldn’t get much relief that way, and it was causing the Foretellers to just think she was the simple girlfriend of Sora again, and nothing more.

But if it somehow made Kairi’s heart… truer, she would continue on this path.

So when Ursula's family were making a big deal of her being in love with George from the Jungle, when Kairi was helping out in that world, she said nothing... She also didn't even question why Alice seemed older than she should have been, when she went to Wonderland herself for the first time, and why it seemed different than Sora described it as... She even ignored telling her new friends who she thought framed Roger Rabbit, when she'd figured the answer out herself. And even when it was revealed to her that Master Ava was somehow her grandmother… Kairi didn’t react. But that was more from shock than anything else.

But it was after that had transpired, that Sora seemed to have enough of the silent treatment and began questioning her. "Kairi... I thought you wanted to be _more_ active on our journeys… so why are you being less so now? Are you okay?"

They were back home on Destiny Islands now, after having defeated the Master of Master’s plans and most of the Foretellers, unfortunately. And Kairi had decided to just deal with all of her grief here, and not ruin the party that was going on outside, but she should have known that Sora would never leave her alone when her heart was clearly in distress… that was what she loved about him.

The Kairi of old, who had been pretty good at bottling up her emotions, wouldn't have told Sora the truth here… But the one who remembered how doing such a thing had destroyed Terra, Ventus, and Aqua’s friendship for a while, knew that she had to finally speak.

"...What's wrong is that I'm supposed to be Light, Sora…. But you're kinder and truer than I could ever be… and I’m not saying that to insult _you_ or anything… I just find that no matter what I do, I’m a mean girl—even though I'm trying to fight some of that now… and be less me—so what can you _possibly_ see in me? And what did the universe see, in order to gift me with this power?"

And Kairi assumed that Sora would give her some massive speech here… perhaps something like his “my friends are my power” speech, or when he’d told Riku he didn’t have a conscience… or something along the lines of what he’d said to get her to want to stay in Traverse Town so many years ago…

But instead, Sora just admitted with much simplicity and heart: "Kairi, I love you because you're _you_... for all the times you've saved me, and how you poke fun at me, and how we've grown up together. How could I not? So stop trying to be anyone other than yourself. And, I mean, Mister Arrogant over here isn't exactly perfect. Our flaws make us good for each other, too, believe it or not."

And Kairi wanted to argue this, she really did. Because how could the hero of the worlds be comparing himself to her?

But if Kairi was being honest with herself, she loved Sora for pretty similar reasons to what he’d just said about her, didn't she? Even when she _was_ put off by how conceited he could be, for example, in thinking he could just _magically_ go to the next school year—despite his grades—just because his teachers loved him so much.

And Kairi held Sora in her arms again… probably something she should’ve been doing every second and every day since he’d first spilled his guts to her, instead of pushing him away, and Kairi asked Sora the question that perhaps the universe had laid on her mind to try and comfort her. "I guess I really _do_ need you to warm my heart, huh?"

And the words "you bet" were whispered against Kairi's head, as Sora kissed her forehead and brought her even closer to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) I struggled with whether I wanted to give Kairi this Buffy line or not. On one hand… I didn’t want to, because Sora was spilling his heart out to Kairi here, and it didn’t seem like she would somewhat shoot that in the foot by saying this. But at the same time… I want Kairi to have her personality, tbh… The snarky one that we really saw in KHI and KHII, that allowed her to banter with Sora: as I think that’s one of the reasons they’re good and fun together and have chemistry. So, in the end, I decided to keep it for that reason. And perhaps Kairi later thought of her saying that, and it’s part of the reason she’s hating on herself in this story. -shrugs-


	2. How Can I Love, When I’m Afraid to Fall?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My take on how Sora and Kairi met… but I didn’t use the manga version—or Sora finding Kairi at all—as I figured everyone would do that. And something like this might actually be canon, because in the game Sora and Riku are basically like, “You know the girl at the mayor’s house? She got here during the meteor shower.” So, it sort of seemed like they didn’t know Kairi before that moment, but perhaps went to go meet her then?
> 
> Also… While I usually write a third person that’s from a character’s PoV, this is moreso the omniscient/omnipresent PoV—like, a god or gods are narrating about Sora here and not Sora himself—and that’s why it has adult lingo instead of childish lingo in this little boy’s memory.
> 
> And (1) and (2) here are just instances where Sora and Kairi used the wrong words, because they’re babies. Sora meant to say “glaring” instead of “grinning”, and Kairi meant to say “world” instead of “whirl”… I thought about having Riku mess up with that once, too… but even as a toddler, I think he’s too smart for that. XD
> 
> Oh, and eventually the parents do catch up with Sora and Kairi… but since they’re just having a nice moment—where Kairi’s making yet another friend—they leave them be for a moment, while they secretly watch them from afar.
> 
> It also used to be an old fanon theory, that Kairi’s name is actually “Hikari” and not “Kairi”. And that she tried to say her name was Hikari when she was first found… but was having difficulty speaking from having just space traveled, and it came out sounding more like “Kairi”. So the adults started calling her Kairi, and later she had amnesia and couldn’t even correct them that that was wrong and thought it was right herself. So I went with that here, just because.
> 
> Enjoy!

**SoKai Week Day 2. Prompt: First Meeting.**

How had Sora and Kairi met? That was an easy one… Sora had gone over to her house with his dad—after having heard about the new girl at the mayor’s house—soon after he’d helped that person who had been squeezing his heart, as he felt that she somehow needed his help, too.

And it was, strangely, when the small Kairi opened the door to let him in… that would partly make a later Sora realize he loved her. Since he would often see Donald do such things… and so it was clear that she could fit in with both the old and new segments of his life.

“Kairi!” chastised the man, who Sora could only assume was Kairi’s adopted father—the mayor—as she tried to usher them in. "You can't just open the door by yourself like that, sweetie." And with that “sweetie” added in for the child he had only just met, it had seemed to Sora that the elected official had already come to adore her heart and spirit.

But even though the man had just told Kairi “no”, about letting Sora and his dad in… he motioned that they should come in now, anyway, in probably thinking it would be rude otherwise.

"Hi!" the cute girl had said with such energy, that she'd inspired Sora to try and be just as extroverted as she was from now on, since it did no good to be shy in Kindergarten. "Have you come to see me? I'm Hika- Kairi."

"Yeah! We hear you came from another world!" Sora exclaimed excitedly, as he’d beamed at Kairi and resisted the urge to pinky promise with her that he’d help her fine her home planet.

…But even though Sora had been young at the time, he'd been able to tell by the look on the mayor's face that he was uncomfortable with what he had just said. His face had looked both pinched and purple as, he'd stepped closer to Sora's old man and whispered, "Even if she is, this is not the time nor the place to-"

And Sora had immediately understood then, that the mayor was unintentionally confirming that Kairi _did_ come from another world. Parents were always this grave, when they wanted you to believe something. It was like how Sora had recently come to accept that Santa wasn't real… somewhat because of Riku. And when he’d told his parents that, they'd used big words to try and say that Santa _did_ exist.

"Surely the world is good enough, that a man would secretly give everyone presents one night a year," Sora’s mom had argued. But Sora had deduced later—when he saw a play guitar his parents gotten him for Christmas when they’d all been out shopping together (that they’d clearly forgotten about) labeled as "From Santa"—that that wasn't true.

And one time, when Sora had suspected his dad had eaten his cookie, the man usually of few words had asked, "Would an honest and good man do that to you, when he also just bought you a slip-and-slide to show you how good he is?" And Sora had heard that his dad's voice was higher, too.

It was the same thing here. And knowing that, Sora interrupted the grownups before they could get angry, as only adults did, and said, "I'm going to take Kairi to the Play Island. She needs to meet Riku, if she's going to play here!"

And Sora was running off with Kairi's hand in his own, before either man could catch them. They were toddlers, after all, and much faster because of it.

Just a few days ago, a massive makeshift bridge had been erected, to get people from the Main Island to the Play Island faster. And while it would sink before Sora and Kairi turned six, it served to get them to what they'd eventually see as their home right now, so Kairi could meet her other future best friend this night.

But as they ran... Sora couldn't help being struck by how Kairi’s red hair matched that of the setting sun. He'd never been out this late before, and so this memory would later stick with him for two reasons.

Once they reached the paopu tree where Riku was at, Sora felt proud that he'd won this "race" with Kairi, but also bad that she was now wheezing with her hands on her knees. He put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her once, before walking towards Riku.

"Hey, Sora," Riku smiled, as he seemed to sense his bestie's attention on him even without turning around. "What are you doing out so late?"

An older Sora would have easily turned that around on Riku—in wondering why _he_ was out this late—but baby Sora had had no idea what attitude or turning the tables was, so he instead proudly showed off Kairi, by putting a hand in front of her face before pulling it away, like a magician revealing what was behind curtain number one. "Riku, this here is Kairi. She's from another world! But the grownups don't want us to know and were grinning at each other." (1)

And Riku was instantly sympathetic here, while Kairi winced. And at the time, Sora had thought it was secondhand embarrassment she felt for her new father's sake... but years later, he would come to understand why Kairi might fear adults being angry at her—because of the experiments Xehanort did on her; and perhaps he treated her worse during them, if the results displeased him some way—and it made his blood boil.

"The... other world thing is cool," Riku had chirped, as he’d indicated Kairi should relax and take a seat on the paopu tree trunk he himself had just vacated. "But the adult stuff is rough... eat a paopu here, and take a load off. …They say, if two people share one, they'll kiss forever or something. But who cares about the icky thing? Just eat it like I do, and pray that other part will never get to you."

Kairi did seem somewhat hungry to Sora, so maybe that was why she took Riku up on his offer. But only somewhat. For in maybe not wanting to mess up the paopu fruit legend like he was okay to, she smashed the fruit in her hand some and then just only drank the juice from it. And Sora watched on, somewhat transfixed, as he thought he was the only one to do that…

It was after a seagull accidentally dropped a coconut by the new trio's feet—and they all began eating it, after they’d worked together to get it open—that Kairi finally spoke up about something that seemed to be on her mind, "...Don't get your hopes up, you two. I might not be from another whirl. I don't remember." (2)

And Riku opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but Sora cut him off by extending a hand towards Kairi for her to take and smiling at her. "Even if not... you may be from another island. And so, you can show us another world that way. And maybe we'll be your friend for that... or everything else!"

And Kairi's face lit up like the Christmas tree that Sora loved even now, as she threw her arms around Sora and eventually brought Riku into the hug, too. "Thank you both... so much."

And years later, Sora would come to understand that maybe Kairi had come to love _him_ , because he'd been the first to bring her something good after her recent world of horrors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also hope I didn’t make Kairi’s adopted dad seem abusive. Because he’s not. At all. That one part was just to say that Xehanort gave Kairi trauma about any adult for a while:(


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sora’s dream here is based on the ending of Kingdom Hearts V-Cast. I’m not even joking. LOL. As silly as it is to have wished this… I’m glad I finally found a way to fit some of that into “canon” Kingdom Hearts here.

**SoKai Week Day 3. Prompt: Dreams.**

Sora was having this strange dream, and didn’t know what to do with it… and it wasn’t just because he was dead, which made it near impossible to deal with most things.

But he was in the Final World—where he seemed to be in most of these dreams lately—and Goofy’s hat was on fire? As if Donald had playfully struck him with a spell again?

Sora shook his head, to try and get the thought out of his mind. This was too much like when he’d dreamed the same thing after a Heartless bit him on the Gummi Ship one time. He hadn’t wanted to see it then… and he didn’t want to see it now, while he was dead in this Final World place, and might be forced to see it indefinitely.

But just as that vision was leaving his consciousness, Sora thought he saw Kairi! …w=Who appeared to be looking at a Riku who’d been frozen… frozen like Sora himself had been by Yozora not so long ago.

Sora called both of his friends’ names and tried to run to them… but it was suddenly as if he were trying to move through quicksand. Even though he was getting _somewhere_ , it was happening too slow… and just as Sora thought he saw Kairi turning his way and beginning to gasp at the sight of him, a sudden wind came out of nowhere… punching Sora in the gut, and sending him away from Kairi once more.

“Why is she always out of reach?!” Sora demanded an answer of the cruel world around him, as he knelt on the ground—or was it the sea?—and pounded his fists on it.

But Sora decided he wasn’t going to give up. He was going to get back to Kairi even if it killed him… so to speak. So Sora began running in the direction he’d just come from, this time with no wind to get in his way… and ran for hours with no sign of Kairi or Riku. And when he got tired of running, he jogged… and then walked… and then Sora was near limping, thinking he would crawl to go on further if he needed to.

But Sora was _so_ exhausted, he found he couldn’t stay awake longer. So Sora fell asleep right where he’d fallen, on the night version of this world. And at first, he had the strange dream with Goofy again, but Sora had his suspicions now that it could lead to what he saw with Riku in ice and Kairi, so he patiently waited—while wincing in seeing how Goofy always seemed to get hurt during their adventures. But then again, they all did.

And eventually, Sora _did_ again see Kairi with Riku! But this time, the dream went further: Sora saw Riku shake the ice out of his hair—as was mostly thawed out now—and Kairi smile at him, Sora, as she turned around to see him.

Sora witnessed his dream going on further, too… Now, Donald was snapping his fingers and the fire came off of Goofy’s head.

Though before Sora could process this any further, he woke up and cursed himself for doing so. He’d been on to something, he was sure! “Why did I have to wake up, when death is supposed to be eternal sleep?” Sora moaned, as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Oh, well. Maybe I can figure out more tonight!”

And Sora did… in each vision he had, he learned more about his own dream (that maybe he’d ignored Donald and Goofy too much on his first quest to find Kairi and Riku?), and more about Kairi and Riku… was it that Kairi was reckless with Riku, when it came to saving him?  
  
Sora actually got to talk to Kairi a few times—and Riku, too—but while it was a nice reprieve… he tried not to dwell on it too much, since he thought the dream was a fantasy, and he was just talking to his subconscious and not the real Riku and Kairi.

At one point, Dream Kairi had wondered if they were meeting like this, because the ice of her new memory could somehow cancel out the fire in his dream?

But Sora didn’t think that was the case, and told his love his theory that maybe they both needed to remember to adore their friends still, even while they were moving forward in this new romantic relationship.

And Sora thought this theory of his might have been rewarded, when he began seeing himself teasing Donald and Goofy (and them, him) more each night, and Riku and Kairi touching platonically more.

But on and on it still went while Sora slept, for some reason. While he was awake, he tried to find a way out of the place.

Amazingly, he’d found ways to create fire—and some cardboard boxes for a makeshift house, as it began to rain here—and some weird sort of food… and as Sora did this, he began wondering if he was perhaps becoming more and more alive again, as he was allowed to do things that people did in the land of the living.

And then eventually he saw her.

Kairi.

And Sora knew it was truly Kairi, and not something he was just imagining of her, since she seemed to be wearing Riku’s colors now… which wasn’t something he would have chosen, of course, but…

He definitely _would_ have chosen to have Kairi in his arms again like this, which was where she was now… as she held onto him so tightly, it hurt in the best way possible: the kind that made Sora think he was alive, after all.

Kairi also kissed his cheek—as he’d been dreaming of doing for her the last time they’d embraced, before he’d chickened out of it—and his heart soared.

“Sora!” Kairi cried. And he’d meant to try and find a way to comfort her then, but stopped himself when he noted they seemed to mainly be tears of happiness. “I- I’m so sorry you had to die for me. That- That I was weak, and all. And this… you don’t even know about him yet, but this Master of Masters may be wrong about a few things… but he’s right about some. Like when your soul is more in balance with everyone around you, things tend to work out. So I listened to him—and you, when you told me to find some of my love for Riku again—and here I am!”

“And here you are!” Sora agreed, whilst he stepped away from Kairi to take her in once more. Her hair was slightly longer now, as she rocked the long strands in a ponytail, and she looked good in a yellow baggy skort and a short-sleeved blue shirt. Sora also noted her red boots, that didn’t completely close in the back, that showed off some of her skin… and he saw that maybe she hadn’t _completely_ jumped on the Riku train to get here. Her clothes, after all, were more in the shape that he wore them in… and her shoes were his color. And the hair tie and headband she wore were her pink. Balance, indeed.

And even though Kairi had definitely been on his mind lately… Sora had been doing the old kind of camping that he, Donald, and Goofy had used to do in any new world they set foot on, and had been thinking of them a lot because of it… So perhaps they _were_ more balanced now, and being rewarded for it, and whoever this Master of Masters was _was_ right.

Still… in case this man was somehow _wrong_ , Sora knew there was something he had to do. He reached out and held Kairi’s face in his hand—a touch she leaned into—as he grabbed her hand and kissed her fingertips. “Kairi… you know I love you. I told you that before I faded away—and I _am_ sorry my first confession caused you so much pain—but it goes further than that now… if we get separated again, though I hope we won’t be, know that I’ll find you again… and that when I do, I’ll marry you!”

And Kairi dove into Sora’s arms once more and pressed her lips to his—and maybe did what Sora had always dreamed she would, as he swooned, of pulling on his lower lip with her own. Because to go for the bottom lip was bold in his mind, okay?—and then answered him with shining eyes, “It’s a promise!”  
  
And hand-in-hand, they went into the Corridor of Light Kairi had just called upon: closer to home, even if they were already holding onto their true one here… and always would be.


	4. Ulysses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SoKai Week Day 5. Prompt: Sea and Sky.
> 
> This is an angst-y piece, but you all know me. I’d like to imagine they still got their happy ending even with this.

Sora was beginning to think that he was more like the sea, and that Kairi was the sky. And that if that happened to be true... if they'd been named after the wrong part of the world, maybe that was the reason they were always separated.

The sea was always changing... and Sora thought that reflected his moods more than Kairi's, who was usually so gentle and kind. And the ocean seemed to harm people more than the sky did, which was also true of him and the battles he’d been forced to wage… or so Sora thought. And the moon pulled at the waves… and Sora couldn’t think of a more ample explanation for what Kairi had done to his heart since he first met her when they were five.

And as for the sky… Sora thought Kairi seemed more like its usual constant presence and warmth. And it reminded Sora of how Kairi represented home for him… so whenever he’d thought of that place, he’d easily pulled out a thought of her from his heart and darted there that much faster, with the sky an ever presence at his back… getting closer—and also not so—as she did.

And very rarely, in Sora’s opinion, was the sky angry at anyone like the ocean was. And even if it was… things like tornadoes and storms seemed so separate from the sky, in Sora’s opinion. And since Kairi was rarely upset, that seemed to work for her… She was also pretty much a divine creature. So perhaps she was sometimes owed her divine anger, that one usually felt from the elements of the sky, every once in a blue moon.

And it was when Sora was having these deep thoughts at Yen Sid’s tower—even thinking of writing them in the man’s book that foretold the future—that Kairi walked up behind Sora and poked him in the side.

And though Sora did squeak for Kairi’s benefit, he wasn’t shocked by what she’d done. He’d long ago learned how to sense Kairi’s presence, after all. But he gave her the reaction she longed for, because she’d lacked so much from him for so long… and he smiled widely—for real—as he spun around, so he could hold her in his arms.

“You got me,” Sora smirked, pulling Kairi all the tighter against him, as she laid her head on his shoulder. “You’ve always got me.”

That seemed to be the answer she was looking for—because Kairi looked at Sora with the most loved he’d ever seen from her eyes—but she then seemed to note he wasn’t fully himself and pulled away from him some. “Sora, what’s wrong? Are you having more of those sky and sea thoughts? Because I have to tell you, that your idea that the sky touches the sea less--…wow. No pun intended—and that that’s why we can’t be together… isn’t true. There’s actually less land on most worlds, you know. Which means we touch- I mean, connect with Riku less metaphorically. Which kind of makes me feel bad for him… “But after everything we’ve been through lately, I think we’ve finally gotten our happy ending. So Sora, please calm down.”

Oh, how Sora wished that Kairi was right. And he prayed that she was, as he took her hand in his own and guided her into a twirl—trying to lighten the mood for her, but the motion did little to affect his own.

It was just that… even though they’d, for months now, had the happiness that Sora thought they’d always deserved… he’d lately been having nightmares that he was going to have to k-k-kill Kairi.

Something he would never do. Never! And Sora’s anger at the subject, made him bring Kairi closer to him again in a sharp motion, accidentally hurting her as he did so… which made the Keyblade wielder feel all the worse. That right there, should have been his proof that he’d never hurt her… as Sora kissed Kairi all over the place and whispered sweet promises in her ears.

And yet… the dream told Sora that Kairi needed to absorb all the unnatural darkness in the world, because she was the only one who could—as both a Princess of Heart and a Keyblade wielder—but that after that, the darkness would overtake her… and the only way to defeat it then, as she tried to kill everyone she loved, would be to attack her, and-

To try and turn Kairi over to his line of thinking now—in so many ways than one—Sora held Kairi’s face in his hands, and tried to sweettalk her before kissing her forehead. “Kairi… I’m thinking that maybe you’re the sky. You fell from the sky to first find me, right? And it’s an ocean between worlds, the worlds that I’m always pulled to, then that’s for me.”

And it was a testament to what a good person Kairi was, that even after she’d heard this… that Sora was maybe dreaming of the worlds that had seduced him away from her more than once, she lightly kissed his stubble before announcing, “I think that’s a beautiful sentiment, Sora. Thank you… and thank you for catchingme when I fell out of the sky, and being glad that I did.”

And Sora should have been reveling in this sweet moment they were having. He really should’ve... maybe even using the perfection to finally propose to her, like he’d been dreaming about.

But he couldn’t, for Sora was thinking how he was going to trade her fate for his… and betray her in that way, even while he said he loved her here.

So, perhaps, he was also those temptresses who had existed on the sea—such as Circe and Calypso—who had tempted Ulysses.

And just as Sora had that depressing thought, the skull candle that always seemed to be lighting Master Yen Sid’s tower burnt out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this story has some things in common with “Till We Have Hearts” by MajesticOceanWaves, a favorite fic of mine, but I swear I didn’t copy it:) I’ve had this idea ever since there was a theory on TV Tropes—years ago—that in the last game, Sora will have to kill Kairi to save the world for some reason.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed! Even though it was sad. (It’ll also be kind of sad next chapter. Just a warning. I didn’t plan to have two sad chapters in a row, since I wrote these prompts out of order, it just happened that way.)
> 
> And the opposites thing here, is because I was trying to come up with something for Sea and Sky that no one else would do. And I remembered Meryl Streep’s advice to J. August Richards, that whenever she was auditioning for a character… she would, in some ways, actually try and play the opposite of what the character summary was asking for.
> 
> Oh! And I posted my story for yesterday’s AU day separately, as I wasn’t sure it met the SoKai Week requirements. It’s called “A Single Step”, so check that out if you want. Thanks!


	5. Connection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this prompt is based on a story I wrote years ago—right after Madoka Rebellion came out, that’s since been deleted; and you don’t have to have read that to understand this—where I went, “What if Kairi pulled a Homura, and removed Sora’s destiny from him like Homura did for Madoka?”
> 
> There’s a lot of debate about what Homura did to Madoka. And while I don’t justify it, I think her intentions were good (for the most part). She thought from their conversation earlier, that that was what Madoka would want… and that it was the only way to keep the Incubators from kidnapping her and forcing her to bring back the Witch system. I also think you can’t fully blame Homura for what she did, because she wasn’t in her right mind as a Witch.
> 
> So that’s what I went with Kairi for that story… She’d kind of gone crazy, because Sora had broken all of his promises to her, all of the trauma she’d been through… and because in my story, I had it so the World Order was broken and everyone knew about Sora and the gang’s journeys and other worlds. And that this had led to all these girls being in love with Sora, and thinking Kairi wasn’t good enough for him (yes, this was a reference to some of the fandom’s fans), and they even attacked her for it… So, all of this made Kairi lose it, and use her Princess of Heart powers to “save” Sora from being a Keyblade wielder. But she was also trying to be selfless with it, because the story had started with Sora having to leave Kairi again… but it being obvious that he didn’t want to go, and would stay home if he had the choice.
> 
> So Kairi took his powers away from him, sealed his memories of other worlds, and did the fighting for him (she may have split herself into two beings to do this, so one of her could fight and the other could be with Sora. Kind of like how there are two Madokas after her wish. Madoka and Madokami), and at first, she and Sora are happy together…
> 
> But eventually Sora finds out the truth and is partly angry at Kairi. Because on one hand, he does think she was right about him not wanting to be a hero (at least not anymore) and somewhat appreciates her maybe saving him from a lifetime of fighting. But he’s also furious that she stole his agency, and memories of a life he did love somewhat—with all the people he met in other worlds.
> 
> So, this is a continuation of that idea… where things are better now, and Sora’s trying to make it work with Kairi (though she’s still not quite sane), but he still resents some of her past choices some. Oh, and everyone else now knows what she did, too. And Mickey… Mickey isn’t happy about it. This is kind of following the whole “Mickey was somewhat a jerk about Kairi in KHIII” thing.
> 
> And the first line that fits the prompt—that inspired this whole thing—is another line from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. More on that later.

**SoKai Week Day 6. Prompt: Connection**

“There is a connection,” Mickey was accusing Sora now, when it came to his relationship with Kairi. “She relies on you, you rely on her.”

And Sora actually somewhat wanted to _deny_ that there was still a connection between him and Kairi—since Kairi had somewhat become evil recently, and had tried to steal his powers and memories away—but he couldn’t. …He loved her, perhaps even foolishly, and he always would as his light… even now. And anyone with eyes could see that, but that didn’t mean they were happy about it… like Mickey here.

“I think she’s on the mend, your Majesty,” Sora protested, as the two of them walked through the woods in Twilight Town. Little Chef needed more ingredients from them, so that was what they were doing here at the moment. Nothing major, since things had mostly calmed down since everything that had happened with the Master of Masters… well, aside from the Kairi thing. “She still gets out of touch with reality sometimes… but other times, she’s spot-on again. So, please… just leave us be.”

Truthfully? Sora was irritated with the King when it came to Kairi. And a side of him had ever since said Keyblade War. It seemed as though he’d decided he was against Kairi, and every second he could… he was putting her down in some way. It was tiring.

But Sora couldn’t exactly end his friendship with the man… one, because of Donald, Goofy, and Riku—and perhaps for the sake of the universe—and since he really had no proof of these actions from Mickey, and did like him most of the time. But it was still awful.

The two were approaching Kairi now—who was sitting atop the chute that led back to town—and Sora knew that Mickey probably would have insulted her here, if Kairi hadn’t been making another lucky charm and seeming relatively sane.

“That’s a pretty charm you have there, Kairi,” Sora told his maybe-girlfriend, as he leaned down so he could talk to her better. And it was… a lovely jade color, though Sora had no idea where Kairi had gotten those shells from… and he felt a little bit sick to the stomach, in thinking that Kairi must have made them to match Riku’s eyes. And that she was turning something that had been just about the two of them for so many years ago, to include all three of their trio. But maybe it was for the best…

And sure enough, that seemed to be the case. Kairi smiled carefully, cautiously. As if it was the first time she’d ever done so in her life. Kairi, to Sora, was acting somewhat like a toddler, who had come to believe that the world was a dark and scary place—a belief that would now inform her for the rest of her life—and Sora felt heartbroken for her, despite everything.

“I’m making this for Riku,” Kairi said as she waved at both of them—including to the man who hated her, and Sora felt his teeth set on edge because of it. Maybe he was wrong to always forgive Mickey so easily… “Since I feel bad that I never made him one. If I had, Sora… if I hadn’t been so obsessed with you, maybe things would have been different…”

This seemed to appease Mickey—as he’d always loved Riku—and he left then, wishing both Sora and (shockingly) Kairi the best, as he did so.

Meanwhile, Sora was still—probably unfairly, he knew—mourning that Kairi was going to give Riku _anything_ in the shape of a paopu fruit (even despite Aqua’s beliefs on how the lucky charms worked). Had their relationship really been destroyed this much? …Well, if it had, it was his fault. And Sora tried to hide all these thoughts plaguing his mind, as he gave Kairi one of his thousand-watt smiles. “How are you feeling today, Kairi?”

“Good. It doesn’t feel like a scratching in my head is making me want to hurt others, or myself.”

“…Good. That’s good. But make sure you sleep, too… because _anyone_ can also get insane thoughts when they’re sleep deprived…”

It was also _depressing_ looking at Kairi these days, since her hair had turned white… which Sora knew only happened at an early age for the most traumatized people. And if her eyes weren’t violet instead of blue, and her hair a shade lighter than Naminé’s platinum blonde, then Sora knew he easily could’ve mistaken Kairi for Naminé. But then again… maybe not. Even now, his heart knew her too well…

“…You’re so awkward with me now, Sora,” Kairi said suddenly, with more alertness in her eyes now than Sora had seen in a long time. “But I guess it was either this, or you kill me to get your powers back. So I guess I’ll happily take this. But still… I’m sorry I did this to us.” And the princess went back to joyfully threading her seashells in the shadows, but Sora wasn’t happy.

He actually wanted to get into Kairi’s face and say something like, ‘You do, do you? Kairi… I know I broke promises to you, and this mob of girls who wanted to be with me attacked you- I even know that part of you is right that I don’t want to journey forever, but want to be home… Most of all, I see how you were traumatized after you were murdered, and then I, to get you back- but you stole my Keyblade, and my memories of those I love in other worlds, and my agency, until I forcefully got it back from you. I’m sorry you did this to us, too, especially since you’re the one I thought would never do such a thing to me.

But Sora didn’t… because he knew how easy it was to get lost in his anger with his enemies—and that was also a form of madness, so he wouldn’t be giving Kairi a good example there at all—and because he knew he’d taken her own agency away, when he’d died for her without giving her a say on it… And since she was Kairi, and hurting, and to see her not hurt… Sora would just bear all the hurt himself. Wasn’t it even what he was now saying he wanted… somewhat? What a tragedy it was, that they couldn’t shoulder each other’s burdens anymore… at least for the time being.

But wanting that back—and thinking there was a chance they could have that feeling about them again soon, if they worked at it—Sora just held Kairi… dreaming of falling asleep with her like this. Because when they were innocently and peacefully sleeping in each other’s arms, that was when they were the closest to reaching what they’d once had, Sora thought.

Kairi held tightly onto Sora now and kissed his neck—innocently, with them out in public like this—and Sora clutched that and nothing else… not the bad memories that circled them like a vulture now, but just this feeling.

Right now… the two of them were broken beyond repair, yet still somehow connected. And Sora knew they always would be.

And that, at least, was something, the brunet thought as he for once didn’t have to make the conscious decision to kiss Kairi’s forehead, but rather just did it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the first quote is something Buffy’s mentor and father-figure, Giles, concernedly and angrily says to Buffy about Spike, when he thinks that having him in the group is a danger to them and that Buffy’s head maybe isn’t in the game. Yeah…
> 
> I hope anyone enjoyed this.
> 
> Oh. And for anyone interested, BlueRose729 kindly drew fanart of my old story on her deviantArt account.


	6. Forever Growing

**SoKai Week Day 7. Prompt: Down the Road**

Sora and Kairi had finally gotten their happily ever after.

King Mickey told them both that he suspected that all of the evil had been defeated in the universe… and that if it ever came back, it would be long after their lifetime. And so, the two of them had had their storybook wedding on Destiny Islands, like they’d always wanted—like everyone had always wanted for them—and were now spending every second together to make up for all the time that they’d lost.

But even though they now had that happy ending, they hadn’t rushed into parenthood or anything like that. Eventually they would have kids, Sora knew. But not quite yet.

They also weren’t going to other worlds that much anymore. Sometimes they still did, of course. But since Sora and Kairi had actually done some world traveling together now, they found that nothing quite called out to them like home did.

For so long, Sora had dreamed of getting to come home and staying there. And now the dream was a reality, and no longer sand slipping through his fingertips… and he couldn’t have been happier for it. And neither could Kairi.

And it seemed there was so much to their world that they hadn’t even known about! And new things kept being born on it, too. And it thrilled Sora to no end, to know that he could still have adventures in this way, but be back home for dinner and actually get to see Kairi and his parents.

“Kairi, look at this!” Sora exclaimed, as he looked at the newspaper whilst Kairi stirred a batch of brownies just above his head. “The bottom of the islets all around us, are reported to be turning pink… which is different from the brown it used to be, and what I saw in other worlds on my—our—quests… And they’re saying it could actually lead to some volcanoes being born there… oh. That’s not necessarily good…” And Kairi laughed, at what Sora assumed to be the concerned expression marring his face at the moment. And Sora couldn’t help but to chortle himself. If the scientists were right about this, it could be a bad thing, indeed. But they were also saying it could be a thousand years that they grew to such a state. So, there was probably little Sora or his loved ones could do about it now. But still… maybe he’d have a look at some point…

“Sora, if the science can be believed—and hey, don’t give me that look. You know one day they can say one thing, but the opposite the next—we may have to whip out our Keyblades and use blizzard spells on said volcanoes. But I wouldn’t worry about it just yet.

“But on the subject of you wanting to know more exciting things about out Island, did you hear that we’ve found a way to copy, and to create our own if needed? Or how there are hints that there’s even a floating island here, that’s in hiding from ours for some reas- Sora, why are you looking at me like that?”

Kairi had stopped stirring the brownies at this point, and had finished the batter and put a pan filled with it into the oven… with her bare hands, Sora had seen, which made him love her feisty self all the more.

But to answer her question now… Sora couldn’t help but to duck his head away from her somewhat and blush, even after all these years, because his answer was him putting his heart on the line. As always. “N-n-nothing. Just thinking how perfect our domestic life together is, and all the adventures we can still have together… and I love it.”

And Kairi startled Sora by leaping onto his lap right then and there—the newspaper falling out of his hands as she did so—and she kissed his cheek sweetly. “And it will always be this perfect, too. With the World Order being a thing of the past, you know Destiny Islands will get more ideas from the other worlds… so it’ll always be changing.”

And as Sora’s hand found Kairi’s—that had been resting on her stomach—he thought there were no more beautiful words, then her promise that they could have this amazing life forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s the end of SoKai Week! …Though I may upload one more dark story (somewhat Dark Angel inspired), that I’d almost posted for AU Day instead, but didn’t when the ending got pretty violent. Though, actually, I still might not, since it deals with some sensitive subject matter. I don’t know…
> 
> But about this fic… even though I thought “Down the Road” could have been the perfect opportunity to write about Sora and Kairi’s daughter, who I’ve had walking around in my head since I was, like, nine (and there’s maybe a hint to her, with Kairi perhaps being pregnant in the last sentence here)… I decided to let other people write about their fan-children for now. Because I love the idea that even after Sora and Kairi settle down, they can still find adventurous things to do on the Island. That’s their perfect ending for me, and I’m glad I got to explore that here.


End file.
